There’s been lots of fun and bizarre news items lately that haven’t quite warranted a full post. So I thought I’d put them all together into my second tennis goodie bag. Enjoy! (And don’t worry, it won’t rot your teeth.)
First Serena Williams is trash talking Safina as second best (click here), now she’s haranguing the WTA tour. After retiring with a leg injury against Schiavone in the first round of Madrid on Monday, Williams complained to the press about the demands of the tour. Here’s the scoop from the BBC:
“I don’t really have a choice whether to play,” said Williams, who has said players would be fined for not playing even if they were dead.
She added: “I’m not into throwing away thousands and thousands of dollars.”
The world number two – second seed in Madrid – said she was currently remodeling a house and said: “I don’t know about anyone else but $75,000 is a lot of money to me.
“That’s like my whole furniture bill, and some stairs, rugs.”
Marat Safin also lost in the first round yesterday, and seemed more ready than ever to be retiring from the game. He described the daily grind (via the Guardian):
“You wake up in the morning and you get on a bus or in a car at 11 o’clock. You come back around six. You watch a couple of episodes of something on TV. You read a book. You go for dinner. You look at the internet a little bit. And then you go to sleep. It’s boring I know but it’s the routine you have to do because you can’t do anything else. That’s our job for 10 years. Some great moments, some bad moments. Sometimes we can get out and have some fun but most of the time you have to be focused on tennis. Life is waiting for me after.”
Wait, Marat just described my life! Except I don’t travel the world, make millions of dollars and get to retire at 30. Otherwise, it’s good to know we all put our tennis shorts on one leg at a time.
Pop quiz: Name the American men, currently active on the ATP tour, who have made it to a Major singles semifinal. (I’ll post the answer in the comments section.)
Watch out, Nadal fans! It looks like Rafa’s developing some of those dreaded “outside interests.” First, the Mirror reports that Rafa asked Lenny Kravitz for guitar lessons (Kravitz performed at the Caja Magica opening last weekend), and now the World No. 1 is reportedly shopping for a book deal through a literary agent (via Crain’s):
Industry sources say that literary agent Larry Kirshbaum has been talking to publishers about a memoir by the 22-year-old Spanish heartthrob, who is now ranked the No. 1 tennis player in the world. . .Mr. Kirshbaum has yet to send publishers a proposal, but some editors say a book by Mr. Nadal is something they’d have to consider. “He is the best tennis player in the world right now,” says a publishing executive. “There are a lot of tennis fans around the world.” Mr. Kirshbaum did not return a call seeking comment.
Confidential to “a publishing executive”: Like, DUH!
Speaking of opening spectacles, Steffi Graf and Andre Agassi spoke to the BBC recently to promote the exhibition match celebrating Wimbledon’s new roof on Centre Court (the match will also include Tim Henman and Kim Clijsters.) Click here to watch the video (and get a load of how intensely Agassi stares at his wife.) If you prefer something a little more kinky, click here to watch TMZ stalk Steffi and Andre while they shop for lingerie in Vegas. (The May 17 exhibition will be televised live in the States at 9:30 a.m EST on ESPN Classic and streamed online at ESPN360.c0m.)
In other love matches, here are Stanislas Wawrinka and his television presenter girlfriend Ilham Vuilloud (via Blick). The couple has been together for four years. Random factoid: Stan’s honey is nearly ten years older than he is.
Just checking: Does Stan’s girlfriend remind you of anyone???
And in the “put this in your pipe and smoke it” (no, not you, Marat) category, here’s more fuel for Gasquet-watchers (via Tom Tebbutt of the Globe and Mail):
“In the 2009 ATP media guidebook, there is a note about Richard Gasquet: “In February, 2008, [he] launched The Richard Gasquet Foundation, which aims to help adolescents who struggle to find their place in society and who suffer from a lack of confidence.”
“What about ME?” you’re asking. Okay, if you want some goodies of your own (like a new tennis racquet) click here to visit Tennis Identity’s round-up of the best tennis racquet deals from Babolat, Wilson and Prince.
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